Finale Ultimo: 20 Great Broadway Songs of the Past 10 Years

All Alone in the Universe (Seussical)
A Change in Me (Beauty and the Beast—added to the show in 1998)
Defying Gravity (Wicked)
Dividing Day (The Light in the Piazza)
Forget About the Boy (Thoroughly Modern Millie)
Freedom’s Child (The Civil War)
I’ll Forget You (The Scarlet Pimpernel—added to the show in 1998 or 1999)
My New Philosophy (You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown—written for the 1999 revival)
96,000 (In the Heights)
Not That Kind of Thing (The Wedding Singer)
Ohmigod You Guys (Legally Blonde)
Oklahoma? (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels)
Painting Her Portrait (Jane Eyre)
People Like Us (The Wild Party)
Show Off (The Drowsy Chaperone)
This is Not Over Yet (Parade)
Way Back to Paradise (Marie Christine)
Wheels of a Dream (Ragtime)
Written in the Stars (Aida)
You Can’t Stop the Beat (Hairspray)

That’s a pretty impressive list, particularly since I haven’t even heard all the scores from the past ten years. Two significant scores not represented (because I’ll be seeing my first local productions of the shows in the next year and want to wait until then to hear the scores) are Jeanine Tesori’s and Tony Kushner’s work with Caroline, or Change and Scott Frankel and Michael Korie acclaimed work on Grey Gardens.

There are also some top-notch scores that just didn’t fit on the list—Marvin Hamlisch and Craig Carnelia’s masterful Sweet Smell of Success, Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman’s hilarious work on Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me, Jason Howland and Mindi Dickstein’s pleasing songs for Little Women, and, of course, Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis’s very funny score for Urinetown all come to mind.

It’s not uncommon for people to say that the talent of today is no match for the talent of days gone by; however, look at that list. Really look at it. There’s a ton of phenomenal talent represented in those songs, people whose potential to write the next Guys and Dolls, Gypsy, or Mame (or Hairspray, Urinetown, or The Drowsy Chaperone) are just one project away.

As I wrote my analysis for each song, I wondered what I would write for the greatest songs of the golden age—“Lucky Be a Lady,” “Hello, Dolly!,” or “Shall We Dance.” Now those are some pretty big shoes to fill, but I think for as complicated and complex as we try to make it (and “Dividing Day,” “People Like Us,” and “This Is Not Over Yet” are all pretty complex), most of the songs on this list do what the songs of the Golden Age did—have great melodies with strong, character-specific lyrics. Call Hairspray pop all you want, but remember that the melody of “It’s Today” from Mame actually originated in another show with entirely different lyrics. We still consider it a great song from a great score. That doesn’t change because of how it originated. And yet, look how critical people can be about modern shows. Hairspray is all about great melodies, just like the Jerry Herman, Frank Loesser, and Jerry Ross and Richard Adler scores.

So . . . I’d love to hear what other songs you think should have made the list. What do you think are the most amazing Broadway songs from the past ten years? Remember that you can always leave comments below without registering.

the Broadway Mouth
September 11, 2008

20 Great Broadway Songs of the Past 10 Years: “Ohmigod You Guys”

It does everything an opening number should do. And it’s infectious too.

The key to “Ohmigod You Guys,” the number by Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin that opens Legally Blonde, is both a catchy, fun melody and the unceasing and snappy rhymes, particularly the plethora of words that go with guys—prize, qualifies, accessorize, economize, lies, eyes, et al. It’s simply energetic and tremendous fun. That is, energetic and tremendous that also works to effectively establish the tone of the show as well as introduce the main character (as well as the mindset of her friends).

I haven’t yet seen Legally Blonde (it’s coming on tour this season), but because of “Ohmigod You Guys,” I’m very excited to hear the rest of the score. Broadway is replete with opening numbers that function to exactly what “Ohmigod You Guys” does—and O’Keefe and Benjamin have presented us with one in a show that has captured the hearts of millions of teenagers across the country.

Go, Elle!

the Broadway Mouth
September 9, 2008

20 Great Broadway Songs of the Past 10 Years: “Painting Her Portrait”

I don’t know if there is a more beautiful Broadway score than Paul Gordon’s work on Jane Eyre. The music is like a well-tended garden, a mountain landscape, or a north woods forest—a never-ending vista of beauty.

It’s no secret that Jane Eyre, with music and lyrics by Paul Gordon and additional lyrics by John Caird, is my favorite musical. Months before I ever thought about seeing the show, I was first captured by the OBCR and its sheer beauty, which was closely followed by my attraction to its story.

“Painting Her Portrait” is one highlight is a show filled with riches. In the song, poor ugly Jane Eyre torments herself with the thought of the ravishing Blanche Ingram who seems to have her claws deeply implanted into Rochester’s heart. Jane knows that she has nothing that the Victorian world deems worthy in a woman—beauty, wealth, breeding, or even a superior education. Lacking all, she knows she has no hope of ever having a life with the one man who has ever shown her genuine kindness, whose personality fits with hers.

As Jane paints her own portrait, the song is woven with a haunting melody that underscores Jane’s tormenting lyrics. Jane’s observation of Blanche’s portrait, however, is orchestrated with delicate strings and fragile beauty, all of which is quickly shoved aside when Jane begins to vehemently reprimand herself at the end of the song, the pace of the music speeding up, the fragile beauty meeting the haunting melody, building to Jane’s hurling of the lyrics back at herself with anger and frustration, singing, “Don’t even dare anymore to compare/ Say a prayer for your sorry soul, / Jane!” It’s those final lines that hit home Jane’s agony, the internal rhyming of the words dare, compare, and prayer sending the lyrics hurling back at herself in an unrelenting pace.

There’s other great beauty in the score of Jane Eyre that is worth noting, such as “Forgiveness,” “The Graveyard,” “Secret Soul,” “Sirens,” “In the Light of the Virgin Morning,” and “Brave Enough for Love,” to name a few.

On a recent trip to Barnes and Noble, I noticed that the OBCR of Jane Eyre has recently dropped down to $11.99, which is a real deal for any great Broadway score, let alone one as satisfying as Jane Eyre.



the Broadway Mouth
September 7, 2008

20 Great Broadway Songs of the Past 10 Years: “I’ll Forget You”

Like a couple of other songs on my list, “I’ll Forget You” is a new song that was written within the ten-year time period for a show that was originally written prior. The show was The Scarlet Pimpernel, which opened in 1997 and faced some significant alterations in 1998 and 1999, one of the alterations being the addition of “I’ll Forget You.”

In “I’ll Forget You,” composer Frank Wildhorn gives us another passionate, deeply emotional song worthy of both the Broadway stage and radio airwaves. It’s a song perfectly suited to the character and moment—Marguerite longing to break herself of her love for her husband—but it has that Wildhorn pop appeal in its grand emotional peaks (not to mention, on recording, in Rachel York’s powerful belt). Just like “Hey There,” “If Ever I Would Leave You,” and countless other hits from shows past, “I’ll Forget You” functions beautifully within the plot and without as well.

There is, however, a measure of depth to the lyric, in which Marguerite is promising herself one thing, clearly unable to follow through despite her intentions. She finally admits this to herself in a nice turn of the lyric, ending with, “I’ll forget you . . . / When I die . . .”

And although the rest of the score was written in 1997, there is a bevy of great songs in The Scarlet Pimpernel worth noting here, with Wildhorn’s music being greatly aided by Nan Knighton’s literate and poetic lyrics. Their work on “Madame Guillotine” is particularly brilliant, though “The Riddle,” “Into the Fire,” “You are My Home,” and “The Creation of Man” are all priceless gems from the show.

the Broadway Mouth
August 28, 2008

20 Great Broadway Songs of the Past 10 Years: “A Change in Me”

Though Beauty and the Beast opened in 1994, it wasn’t until 1998 when Toni Braxton took on the role of Belle that the Alan Menken/Tim Rice tune “A Change in Me” debuted and was on the fast-track to sixteen-bar celebrity as every ingénue’s audition piece.

Okay, to even suggest the song was needed is suspect. In fact, when the second national tour came around bearing “A Change in Me,” its inclusion dragged the second act wheras it had been satisfying before. It felt superfluous within one line of its lyrics being belted. Yet, it’s still one of the best songs to come out of Broadway in the past decade because of its melody and lyrics.

“A Change in Me” fits beautifully in the grand tradition of Disney songs, a tradition which now extends to Broadway. Rice’s lyrics for the song are some of the best in the whole show, his lyrics flowing from one idea to the next without obvious dependence on rhyme. It bears a simple concept, one perfectly fitting Belle’s experience—the idea that her experience has changed her where it counts. She no longer has a problem with her “poor, provincial town” because she is no longer dependant on it for her satisfaction. She has found the value of her life within herself.

Best of all, those simple, memorable lyrics are perfectly suited with Alan Menken’s catchy melody. I can’t be the only who finds himself hearing this song pleasantly running through his brain.

If you’re a fan of the song, you must get Susan Egan’s solo album So Far, in which she recorded “A Change in Me.” Egan was the original Belle on Broadway—the Belle preserved on recording—and it’s only fitting that her rendition is saved and in every fan’s collection.

the Broadway Mouth
August 6, 2008

20 Great Broadway Songs of the Past 10 Years: “My New Philosophy”

Yes, the show was old, but the song was entirely new. The show was You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, and the composer and lyricist was Andrew Lippa, writing for the talented Kristin Chenoweth.

I’m not yet familiar with Lippa’s other work, but I greatly admire his versatility in being able to write two new songs for an old score, effortlessly creating something that matches in tone and style the songs composed by the show’s original writer, Clark Gesner. If I had not listened to the OBCR without knowing this, I never would have guessed Lippa’s work was entirely new.

Built with simple but flowing rhymes and a catchy melody stuffed with old Broadway razzmatazz, “My New Philosophy” is a gem of character expression through song. It’s catchy, fun, and funny.

Hooray, Andrew Lippa, Hooray.

the Broadway Mouth
July 22, 2008

20 Great Broadway Songs from the Past 10 Years: "All Alone in the Universe"

Here’s another spectacular Lynn Ahrens/Stephen Flaherty score. Is there anything this duo can’t do?

What most amazes me about the score to Seussical is how dead-on Seuss it is. Musically, it feels right, like the music you might have heard in your head as you were reading the Seuss books as a child, but at the same time, it’s fresh and fun. Lyrically, Ahrens takes on the gargantuan task of recreating Seuss, competing with his clever and witty plays on words and rhymes. However, from start to finish, in the hands of the very talented Ahrens and Flaherty, Seussical feels like it was blown off the pages of the books and onto the stage.

One thing I love about Seussical is that, like all great shows and movies geared toward family audiences, it rises above whatever intentions reviewers and audiences have for it. When I saw the tour, yeah, I could tell the producers had been trying to vie for the family dollar, but nobody in that audience could have enjoyed themselves more than I did.

Part of why that is is represented in the song “All Alone in the Universe.” When people set out to make a kids’ show (or a kids’ movie), it often ends up with a very typical kids’ theme—it’s okay to be different, everyone is special, believe in yourself. Seussical, however, goes beyond that, celebrating more adult ideas, such as strength in adversity, rejoicing in creativity, and standing for right in a world full of wrong. Because of that, I think any one could walk away from Seussical inspired to be a better person.

I love what the song has to say, about being alone in the universe, the only one to see and understand something new (or being the only one to stand up for what is right). We don’t have enough of that in our world because most people lack the vision to be trendsetters and instead become trendfollowers. Yes, I agree Horton, that “At one time or other, / Great thinkers all feel this way,” all alone in the universe. And that’s what makes them great thinkers. That’s a powerful experience, to feel alone in the universe, and a powerful response, to hold fast to your convictions.

As you can tell, I want the courage to be Horton.

The melody accompanying those beautiful lyrics works to create the sense of aloneness and wonder, accentuated in the orchestrations by the singular, simple plunking of piano keys behind Horton’s and JoJo’s solo choruses. Then, when they duet, they harmonize so beautifully, just as their experiences of being “all alone in the universe” harmonize. The song then ends in a beautiful counterpoint, perhaps foreshadowing the differing experiences in aloneness that both characters will have, knowing that they do have someone out there who does believe in them, though they will feel alone in the universe.

Other great songs in the show (and songs I often find myself singing) are the equally moving “Solla Sollew,” “It’s Possible (McElligot’s Pool),” and “Notice Me, Horton,” though they only scratch the surface in a score bubbling with wonderful.

the Broadway Mouth
July 16, 2008

20 Great Broadway Songs of the Past 10 Years: “Freedom’s Child”

I hate country music. And yet, during the tour of The Civil War, I had to often resist the urge to get out of my seat and move during the Frank Wildhorn/Jack Murphy songs. There was just something about those stupendous voices (led by Larry Gatlin, Michael Lanning, and Keith Byron Kirk) and the rock-infused, country styling of the music that was irresistible.

Some criticized the show for not having one running plot thread, being composed with musicals scenes and scenarios forming a mosaic of experiences of those who fought, died, or lived during the Civil War. Others trashed the music for its heavy Frank Wildhorn rock-infusion which placed emotions over character development. But to me, the music was exactly what the show needed, and the show itself powerful.

“Freedom’s Child” is marked with a catchy, upbeat rock melody, the kind that could have made the song a hit on the radio. Lyrically, the song is about America’s greatest asset, freedom, and the struggle for all Americans to live its benefits. When you really stop to listen to the lyrics, keeping in mind America during that time, there’s great power in their ideas. When mega-talented Keith Byron Kirk and the cast sang “Look through these eyes / Imagine what they’ve seen / This long, dark night / Must now come to an end,” it’s powerful. If you don’t know what his eyes have seen, just read Harriet Jacobs’ autobiography/page-turner Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl—his eyes have seen horrors. That’s a pretty powerful cry for “the birth of Freedom’s Child.”

The ideas of the song are also presented in a strong progression—a reminder of the reality of slavery (the “Look at these hands” verse that opens the song), a reminder of the promise of freedom inherent in America (the “Look at these words / To God all men are equal” verse), and then the cry for war to bring about freedom if necessary (the “give us our freedom now / Nothing less, nothing more” bridge, coupled with the chorus of “Let the dogs of war run wild”). The lyrics give “Freedom’s Child” an intellectual strength since the song provides a logical progression of ideas, and the melody gives the song an additional emotional push.

It was a travesty that the original Broadway cast never recorded a full Broadway album, though it is fortunate that a few cast members do appear on the 2-disc concept album and that Matt Bogart recorded the moving “Tell My Father” for his solo JAY album. There are many other powerful songs in the show—“If Prayin’ Were Horses” is stunningly beautiful, and “Brother, My Brother,” “This Old Gray Coat,” and “The Glory” are just a few of the other highlights.

the Broadway Mouth
July 14, 2008

20 Great Broadway Songs of the Past 10 Years: “People Like Us”

Michael John LaChiusa’s music is like other great works of literature; the more you read the lyrics and consider what is happening in the story, the more greatness you see in it. You may not laugh much, but you do think and feel. “People Like Us” from Michael John LaChiusa’s The Wild Party is a great example of a LaChiusa song, one highlight in a show filled with riches.

The Wild Party is a musical about people searching, craving, needing abundance and decadence to hide and medicate their emotional emptiness. Honestly, the show sadly always reminded me of many students I met during my first teaching position, which was in a small outer-ring suburb where the kids felt like there was nothing to occupy their free time other than drinking, smoking, and drugs. There was the fair share of happy-go-stupid partygoers who went, no doubt, for a good time, but it was also a school filled with brokenness, so many kids who struggled with paternal abandonment, divorce, and emotional distance from parents, kids who did drugs and inhaled alcohol because there was no one there who cared enough to stop them.

“People Like Us” is an intriguing song for a number of reasons. First off, it plays like a passion-filled love song, and at its heart, it is a song not all that different from “If I Loved You” or “Make Believe” because it is a song in which two characters fall in love. The subtext is bonding and emotional attachment through like circumstances; however, the actual words reveal the why.

Queenie begins with a melancholy remembrance of what brought her to the city, a verse which young Nadine will later sing with glee—“Always wanted to see the lights of Broadway / I always wanted to hear the traffic roar . . .” But before she can finish it, she breaks down, and opens up, telling Black, “I was that girl. I’m all of them. Trapped in a room full of shadows and not enough light.”

The title could refer to Queenie and Black themselves, but what they say—“People like us. We take lovers like pills. / Just hoping to cure what we know we can’t fix.”—actually applies to everyone at the party—Kate’s constant conquest of younger men, Madeline’s instantaneous love for Sally, Jackie’s flippant desire for both Oscar and Nadine. What unites Queenie and Black is the mutual realization of what they’ve become, the fact that of all the people in the room, they alone realize that they are “people like us.”

That is not to say the song is all about honesty. Queenie sings, “People like us: We sure get our kicks: / And we heal awful fast and we don’t even scar,” which shows her own delusions. The fact that she’s with a man like Burrs illuminates how scarred she’s become.

Because of “People Like Us,” we can actually have hope for Queenie and Black, because her attachment to Black isn’t out of pure emotional need or sexual desire. The light that bathes her at the end (perhaps the enlightenment about her own self) signifies her entrance into the real world, the real world which she’s struggled to know throughout the show (as indicated in Black’s lyric, “It feels like a dream / But it’s too hard to tell / Where the dream begins / And the real world ends”). This isn’t another case of “Because we’re attracted to each other, we’re in love” type of love; these are two characters who are able to and willing to confront their own inner demons in order to live a life different from the one they’ve known.

So, not many laughs, but one heck of a score.

the Broadway Mouth
July 11, 2008

20 Great Broadway Songs of the Past 10 Years: “Not That Kind of Thing”

A critic whose name I don’t remember wrote that the score of The Wedding Singer was an attempt to mimic mediocre pop, leaving audiences with a score that was itself mediocre pop.

I heartily disagree.

Given the synthesizer/80s pop treatment, “Luck Be a Lady” or “Wheels of a Dream” wouldn’t be any less great as theatre songs; they’d just sound like 80s-influenced theatre songs. Most of the songs in The Wedding Singer could easily have been given the traditional Broadway arrangements; for the direction of the show, however, it was natural that they would be given the grand 80s treatment.

So, Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin’s score for The Wedding Singer may sounds retro, but the songs themselves are 100% classic musical comedy, ripe with very funny lyrics and catchy melodies. My favorite of the score is “Not That Kind of Thing,”

To begin with, you have to love the song’s very funny lyrics, which are typical of the score as a whole. The following interchange was laugh-out-loud funny in the theatre and a favorite to revisit on recording:

Crystal
You get stuck with them for better

Julia
Or worse

Crystal and Julie
No matter which way you stack it

Robbie and Mookie
It’s emasculating holding a purse

Robbie
And it doesn’t match my jacket.

But after the comedy, we are left with a catchy, pleasing song that perfectly fits the characters, carefully showing how they are falling in love with each other (the flirtations, the joking) without fully admitting it to themselves. In a way, it’s an “If I Loved You” of a new era. Instead of the Peter Stone-titled conditional ballad of Oscar Hammerstein II, “Not That Kind of Thing” is the Stephen Sondheim-infused subtext-laden version of “I’ll say one thing, but really mean another,” wrapped in a light-hearted and hum-able melody.

“Not That Kind of Thing” isn’t the only great song in the show—“It’s Your Wedding Day,” “A Note From Linda,” “Pop!,” “If I Told You,” and a host of others are all exceptional for their strong melodies, laugh-out-loud funny lyrics, and/or their perfection in storytelling.

No wonder The Wedding Singer gets a lot of play on my stereo.

the Broadway Mouth
July 9, 2008

20 Great Broadway Songs of the Past 10 Years: “Way Back to Paradise”

It’s a challenge to contemplate selecting only one song from Marie Christine to single out as great. Not only is it a moving, passionate score of the kind we don’t see often enough these days, but the songs weave in and out of the story with such dexterity that entire sections of the score play better than just one cut.

“Way Back to Paradise,” like the rest of Michael John LaChiusa’s work, is more complex than the surface of its lyrics and music. A catchy melody beautifully performed by Audra McDonald on the Original Broadway Cast Recording, it at first appears to be a traditional feminist anthem, proclaiming the struggles of women living in a world dominated by men, with lyrics such as:

We are rules by our brothers.
We are rules by our husbands.
We jump at the voices of our masters
And do as they say.
We are bartered and traded,
Along with cattle and cotton.

In it, Marie Christine proclaims that women were thrown of out Eden (the Paradise of the title) because of the jealousy of Heaven (the angels who came to call), who put the garden into men’s hands. Her solution is to:

Study all men.
Learn what they lack.
Sweeten and stroke
Before you attack:
Put up a front
And then slip through the back
Be on your way back
to paradise

And a short time later she further instructs:

But there is a way back to paradise,
There is a way:
Bide your time.
Be clever and wise.
When you look at a man,
Look him dead in the eyes.

Do not be seduced,
Tell him elegant lies.

All this well-intended cautioning, however, dissipates when Marie meets Dante Samuel Keyes because, as one prisoner knows before Marie says anything, she gets seduced. And not only does she get seduced, she gets thrown out of Eden after she has fallen for Keyes’ elegant lies. Indeed, she does later sweeten and stroke before she attacks and puts up a front and slips through the back to murder his fiancée, but it is out of the weakness of defense, in response to falling for his own front, that of undying love and devotion.

What is interesting about LaChiusa’s work that I’ve heard on recording (particularly Marie Christine and Bernarda Alba) is that he writes about female characters who are seemingly strong and in control—the violent Marie Christine, the dominant Bernarda Alba, the strong-willed Adela—but these are actually complex creations with insecurities and foibles that create within them passionate, strong-willed external responses that belie their core weaknesses. In comparing these seemingly strong women with strong female characters from classic literature—Jane Eyre, Elizabeth Bennett, Miss Alice Henderson, for example—the truth of LaChiusa’s characters (and their depth) becomes apparent.

the Broadway Mouth
June 30, 2008

20 Great Broadway Songs of the Past 10 Years: “96,000”

I haven’t seen In the Heights yet (curse not living in New York!), but “96,000” from Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tony-winning score has to be one of the most exciting Broadway songs from the past ten years.

I love shows with traditional scores (like those of The Light in the Piazza, Ragtime, and The Drowsy Chaperone), but I also love when a show successfully integrates contemporary sounds, almost like it was the Golden Age when Broadway played on the radio.

I can’t really comment on the role the song plays in the show or how it fits characters; I just love that it really pulls you in and makes you want to move. You have strong vocals combining with rapping and Latin rhythms, and it’s so electric. Hearing it on Broadway.com and on the Tonys telecast was so exciting, I can’t wait to hear it live.

the Broadway Mouth
June 28, 2008

20 Great Broadway Songs of the Past 10 Years: “Show Off”

The Drowsy Chaperone has a very interesting score, particularly when you consider how the show is constructed. A number of the songs are of a declarative nature, where characters have the opportunity to sing about themselves. These are not typically the best songs in any particular show. For example, two of the songs that always get skipped on my Damn Yankees CD are “A Little Brains, A Little Talent” and “Those Were the Good Old Days.”

Why declarative songs tend to be less interesting is probably due to the flat dramatic nature of the song and situation. In a declarative song, the reliance has to be on humor because, after one verse, the information communicated just gets repeated, but if the humor is of clever rhymes and funny situations being told, that alone usually isn’t enough to garner repeat laughs.

Listen to Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison’s score of The Drowsy Chaperone, however, which is happily repeatable even though its short score contains three significant declarative songs, all of which remain hilarious and/or charming upon repeating listening.

My favorite in the show is “Show Off,” Janet Van De Graaff’s declaration of her desire to give up the stage for married life, all the while basking in the glow of that which she insists she doesn’t want. What tremendously fun lyrics and music (and creative staging) executed with perfection by Sutton Foster.

When I finally saw the show on Broadway, I had seen the number performed on the Tony Awards repeatedly, and not only was it still as exciting as if I had never seen it before, it was beautifully topped with Kitty’s, “Yeah, I’m surprised she didn’t do an encore,” followed by, of course, Miss Van De Graaff’s entrance with, “I don’t wanna encore no more.”

Perfection.

the Broadway Mouth
June 21, 2008

20 Great Broadway Songs of the Past 10 Years: “This Is Not Over Yet”

While it was unjust, the real tragedy was not that Parade closed after only eighty-four performances. The real tragedy is that it will have taken ten years for a second Jason Robert Brown show to have made it to Broadway when 13 opens this fall (and no, Urban Cowboy doesn’t count).

Here’s another one of those great scores loaded with genius songwriting, ripe with emotion and intelligence. My favorite song of the bunch, though, was aired on the Tonys telecast, “This Is Not Over Yet.” I’ve often said that if I was magically gifted with a beautiful singing voice, I’d sing “This is Not Over Yet” first.

Lyrically, I love it for its intelligent use of rhyme. Jason Robert Brown writes songs where songs don’t rhyme for rhyme’s sake, but the lyrics works together with the music to propel the ideas forward. Look at the section:

Tell my uncle not to worry!
Tell the Reaper not to hurry!
Make the hangman stop his drumming
‘Cause I’m coming into town to win the day!
Somehow I haven’t with my scheming,
Screwed things up beyond redeeming,
And we’re finally on our way!

When he uses internal rhyme to pair drumming with coming, he’s speeding up the pacing of the song, reflecting the hope and excitement building within Leo Frank, furthered by the tempo created by the remaining rhymes and the use of alliteration in the t and s sounds.

Musically, the song soars, rivaling a romantic ballad in the final moments as Lucille comes in. Indeed, it is a song that is both about Leo’s hope and also the newfound love between these two people whose week marriage has only been strengthened by adversity.

Inside the liner notes of the OBCR, there is a note that says a contribution toward the recording was made in memory of Mae Holliday and Chickie Brown. I can’t think of a better way of being memorialized than in the preservation of this amazing, majestic, and powerful score.

the Broadway Mouth
June 13, 2008

20 Great Broadway Songs of the Past 10 Years: “Defying Gravity”

Oh you Wicked haters out there, you knew it had to come. Stephen Schwartz’s score is probably the best-loved score since Rent, maybe even more so, and I stand on the side of those who celebrate its strength and power.

There are any number of great songs in Wicked that could be listed above; “What is This Feeling?,” “Dancing Through Life,” “Popular,” “I’m Not That Girl,” and “For Good” are all remarkable songs, “For Good” being particularly powerful.

“Defying Gravity,” however, stands out as the ultimate Act I closer. Sitting in the Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles and seeing Stephanie J. Block fly while singing this amazing song was thrilling. It pushed you into intermission not wanting to leave the story and very excited to return.

It’s the song that best represents what people love about Elpaba, her determination to rise above expectations and to change the world. I love the lyric:

Too long I’ve been afraid of
Losing love I guess I’ve lost
Well, if that’s love
It comes at much too high a cost

There’s a truth to that, the choice many people make while in middle school that affects the rest of their lives, that decision to follow the crowd and to never be unique. We do follow our fears and settle for less than we want to be because we crave acceptance. Elphaba, in “Defying Gravity,” inspires us all to follow our dreams and aspirations instead.

Plus I am in love with theme of the song as a whole—rising above expectations, soaring beyond limitations, and following your heart, all with defiance toward those who would bring you down. If you listen to “You Can’t Stop the Beat” to cheer you up, you listen to “Defying Gravity” to inspire you to do great things.

the Broadway Mouth
June 9, 2008

20 Great Broadway Songs of the Past 10 Years: “Forget About the Boy”

I honestly haven’t heard enough of Jeanine Tesori’s music to get a feel for her style. Because there’s nothing like hearing a score for the first time on stage, I keep waiting to catch a production of Caroline, or Change before buying the CD. Since a production close to me won’t be mounted for almost another year, I’ll focus on a gem from Thoroughly Modern Millie with lyrics by Dick Scanlan.

“Forget About the Boy” really is about as great, old fashioned as you can get without recycling a song from another show. It has an irresistible melody with fun, catchy lyrics that express character.

Another gem from the show, “Gimme, Gimme” is particularly remarkable because it caps off a wild and wacky night of fun with heartfelt, passionate emotion. A typical ballad would have been the wrong moment, so Tesori finds a balance in a high-energy song that perfectly complements Scanlan’s clever lyrics (“Here I am, St. Valentine / My bags are packed; I’m first in line! / Aphrodite, don’t forget me / Romeo and Juliet me”). Thoroughly Modern Millie required the use of songs from a variety of sources, but from hearing “Forget About the Boy” and “Gimme, Gimme” alone, it would be exciting to see Tesori and Scanlan tackle an entirely original score.

the Broadway Mouth
May 29, 2008

20 Great Broadway Songs of the Past 10 Years: “Written in the Stars”

“Written in the Stars” is a song that harkens back to the old days of Broadway. It’s a song uniquely fitting the situation at hand within the show while conveying a universal emotion that allows it to live outside of the show. Not all that unlike Frank Sinatra, Doris Day, or Dinah Shore recording a Broadway hit in the 1950s, “Written in the Stars” was recorded by Elton John as a duet with Leann Rimes, which received radio play and warranted a video some time before Aida premiered on Broadway.

The songwriter’s version, however strong, cannot top Adam Pascal and Heather Headley’s passionate version which was preserved on the Original Broadway Cast Recording. The song perfectly encapsulates the concept of Aida—a doomed love between soul-mates. The tragic concept in the song is strengthened by Tim Rice’s use of the idea of the gods wreaking havoc in the lives of men and women, that paradise has been found, only to be torn away by the whim of the stars.

Like the rest of the show, “Written in the Stars” is an exercise in style over nuance, heart over head. Lyrically, it’s not a dense song, containing a few simple ideas, but the music carries each verse and chorus to new emotional heights. No, it wouldn’t work in a Sondheim show or in a Finn show, but it works beautifully within the show that Aida is, and because of that, it’s extraordinarily effective.

Aida is filled with a ton of great songs—“My Strongest Suit,” “Dance of the Robe,” and “Elaborate Lives” are just a few. I never saw Elton John’s Lestat, but perhaps John’s pop background works best with heavily stylistic shows like Aida, rather than pieces that require strongly nuanced character pieces. I know many people delight in trouncing on big names with big flops, but I, for one, would like to see more of John’s work simply because his work in Aida is outstanding. Perhaps he should give Tim Rice a call . . .

the Broadway Mouth
May 27, 2008

20 Great Broadway Songs of the Past 10 Years: “Wheels of a Dream

It’s astonishing to realize that Ragtime opened just ten years ago—January 1998. Its lush, emotional score with stunning to-the-rafters ballads and stirring group numbers feels so distant from the current trends on Broadway that it sounds like something from ages past.

Honestly, the score is so rich and expansive, it is quite difficult to pick only one great song from the spectacular Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens score. How does one choose among that stunning opening number, the beautiful harmony of “Journey On,” the fun of “The Crime of the Century,” Audra McDonald’s moving “Your Daddy’s Son,” the rousing “The Night that Goldman Spoke at Union Square,” and . . . well, you get the idea (and that’s not even finishing the music from the first act!).

In listening to “Wheels of a Dream,” it’s easy to miss the grand scores of the ‘80s and ‘90s. Indeed, there’s something to be said of the delicate, character-specific nuances of a song like Adam Guettel’s “Dividing Day,” but there’s also something to be said for the stirring, character-specific grandness of the songs in Ragtime. In “Wheels of a Dream,” we have two characters facing the journey of family life, the open road of their life together represented by the metaphor of a car. As anyone who has seen the show knows, however, their grand moment of dreaming will actually be only dreams, for the country that will let a man like Coalhouse “own a car, raise a child, build a life with you” will destroy his car, gun down his love, and leave his child in the arms of another man.

The melody is of the stirring anthem type, the grand emotional push that, while lacking the nuance that has unjustly wrought criticism on a number of other moving scores of this ilk, is pinpoint perfect for the hopes and dreams that Coalhouse holds for his family. Having had moments of great hope in my own life, they require larger-than-life musical colors to accurately portray. The fact that his hopes—expressed through the grandness of the melody—will never arrive in tact is even more affecting when remembering the depth of his hope in “Wheels of a Dream.”

If you are a younger musical theatre fan, and you are not familiar with the score to Ragtime, I couldn’t urge you more to check it out. It really is something extra special.

the Broadway Mouth
May 23, 2008

20 Great Broadway Songs of the Past 10 Years: “You Can’t Stop the Beat”

“Oklahoma!”
“Sit Down, You’re Rocking the Boat”
“Hello, Dolly!”
“You Can’t Stop the Beat”

In a very short time, “You Can’t Stop the Beat” has become one of the best-known Broadway songs of all time, right along with the other songs in above the list. In our time, that’s a pretty spectacular feat.

And it’s not without reason. It is one of the best endings that a Broadway show ever had, a 12 o’clock number in a show that never needs to wake the audience up. Instead of injecting energy as the old 11 o’clock numbers did, “You Can’t Stop the Beat” sends the audience out pumped with energy and the excitement of a great night in the theatre.

It also helps that it’s a topper on a great evening of music. Critics can whine about Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman’s use of the pop vernacular, but the masses have spoken loudly for the music of Hairspray, first turning the Broadway show into a hit of Ednaian proportions and then falling in love with the movie in droves—first in the theatres then on DVD. It’s easy to single out “You Can’t Stop the Beat” because it’s energetic and exciting, but everyone reading this already remembers all the other greats in the score—“Good Morning Baltimore,” “The Nicest Kids in Town,” “Welcome to the 60s,” and a bunch of others.

the Broadway Mouth
May 20, 2008

20 Great Broadway Songs of the Past 10 Years: “Dividing Day”

I don’t know if it is original to Adam Guettel, but there is something very satisfying about the phrase Dividing Day as used in The Light in the Piazza. It’s a simple use of words that captures the essence of the song in a poetic manner—the dividing of one into two.

And “Diving Day” is filled with many rich uses of language to express Margaret’s emotions, such as seeing “the winter in your eyes.” There’s also a brilliant use of rhyme at work, particularly in the pairing of bowed and “no more love allowed,” a shocking statement about a long-lasting marriage.

Guettel also gives us two stark ideas with contrasting images, both of which give weight to the concept of the song—“Were you lying next to me / Hiding what you couldn’t say” and “Was my cheek upon your chest / An ocean away.”

The dual strength of the song is in how the lyrics and melody fit the character of Margaret. The arrangement on the OBCR betrays Margaret’s lack of confidence in her marriage, the discord of her emotions plucking in the background. The lyrics and the melody convey a solemn admittance of emotion—not a grand power ballad of loss, but a simple, emotional expression of a fact mutually agreed upon but not formed into words until that moment, thoughts escaping in simple, painful lyrical phrases.

The idea of “Dividing Day” is as interesting as how it is expressed. The reality is that the American concept of marriage hasn’t altogether been successful, and when you see someone madly in love on their wedding day and getting in a bitter divorce ten years later, the concept of a diving day is quite fascinating. Not to return to my days of teaching or anything, but it would be interesting to juxtaposition the very American “Diving Day” with “Do You Love Me?” from Fiddler on the Roof, which is very non-American in nature, dealing with love in a different definition.

“Dividing Day” is just one song in a rich and lush musical score that is both complex and lovely. It’s hard not to listen to The Light in the Piazza and not have hope for the future of the Broadway musical. Now if only Guettel would write more like it on a regular basis!

the Broadway Mouth
May 15, 2008